Automatic pitcher and self-feeder for threshing-machines.



E, E 6.1.0. wILEs. .l AUTOMATIQPITGHEEANDSELF FEEDER EOE TEEESHING MAGEENES.

APPLIOATIONI'ILED JULY 13, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIIIIUHi lmlullllllllllgllllli i \l E M E /m/E george flesv magri/sys G G. VVILESY l AUTOMATIUPITGHER AND SELF FEEDER FOR THRESHING MACHI`EES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1905.

Mums-MHT 2.v

i INI x 1| @n wm L.|. ww u KQ \^|||T Qu? W. %N\\ :m hul NW u Hl ///l \\Wy v /H A w rr/r /f\\\ m J N V E N T? fargfe Cf Wea- By v 4 ATTORNEYS WTNESSES.' da? G. 0. WILEs. y v AUTOMATIC PITCHER'v ND SELF FEEDER FOR THEESHING APPLIOATIQN FILED JULY1a,1005.

.fr MACHINES.

. PATENTBD JAN.`1, 1007.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WIT MESSE S.' a

/NvE/vron (17602?? CTZeJ f a paratus near the point of delivery to the I' .To all whom t may concern,..-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

eEoReno. wILEs, or HUTCHINsoN, KANSAS.. AuToMATic PITCHER 'ANn-sELF-FEEDERFOR marsans-MACHmrs.l

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedd'ain. 1, 1907. Y

Application filed Tilly 13, 1905. Serial No. 269.485. l

Be it'known that I, GEORGE C. WrLEs,av

" citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hutchinson, in the county .of Reno and State ofl Kansas, have invented a new and ImV roved Automatic Pitcher and Self-Feeder or'Threshing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

lhis invention relates to threshin -maclnnes, and concerns itself especiallywit the construction, of mechanism for feeding 'the unthreshed grain to the cylinder.

Theobject of the invention is to produce feeding mechanism whichwill enable a quantil of grain lying within a given radius to be quickly and automatically to the machine.'

The invention consists in the construction and combination` of parts to be more fulll described hereinafter, and definitely set fort in the claims.

4Reference is to be had to theaccornpanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding arts in allthe views.

Figure 1 is a front e evation showinginyapparatus applied to 4a threshing-cylinder. Fig. 2 is aj plan. In this view certain parts are representedin crossseetion- Fig. 3 is a vertical central section taken through my feeding t eshing-cylinder. Inthisview parts of the -apparatus are represented as broken away, t0- gether with the body of the threshing-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a section' taken substantially upon theline i 4 of Fig. 1`upon-a slightly enf larged scale and illustratin ,the construction of the suction-head throng which the grain passes into the feeding'device; and Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the feeding apparatus at av joint dis osed above the feeding-head, a porreeesented as] broken away.

tion of t e apparatusbelow said jointv being applying m y'invention a ove this cylinder I rovide a-p atform 3thesam'e having anenarged central opening 4; as indicated most clearly in Fig'lv '-.Over this openin 4I'` place a delivery mouth or spout V5, whic is of 'substantially conical formas indicated. To the u per extremity" of this'spoutQ there is attac ed a feeder-tubethe said tube having a flexible joint or el ow -7 at its point of connects through a suitableconnection'S to this spout. To the outer extremity of the feeder-tube 6 another ilexible joint'or elbow 9 is attached, to the lower extremit of which a suction-head 10 Ois. attached 't oughaY swivel connection 11`I connection4 with the spout, and rthis.joint I provide means Vfor supporting the. feeder-i tube 6 and its attached parts in any desired position. To' this end on the latforrn 3 I .provide a rotatable wormwhee 12., to which is attached at s uitable points ybrackets 13,`

and these brackets have attached :thereto braces 14' or diagonale, which arev attached rigidly substantially the form of an invertedV U', the-I to a frame 15.v `This frame L15-has j.

lower extremities of its legs being su 'ported on the wormwheel 12, as will be rea ly understood. This`worm-wheel 12 is of course of annular form, as indicated.' vIt isfformed below with an annular groove 16,- into which' .cleats 17 project, as showh,`"the"samebeing attached to the upperface ,of vthe and aording means for securely ho ding the worm-wheel in position. `Near the upper portionof the frame -15 an arn118is pivotallyl l attached upon a shaft 19., This arm 1S comprises substantially arallel bars v20, disposed on opposite sides or the feeding-tube 6 and extending longitudinally thereof, as indicated.v By means of an integralyoke 21 vthese bars unite and terminate in a fork or head '22 which is disposed ,substantially above the suction-head 10, as yindicated most clearly in Fig. 1. y The barsv 20, which compose the arm 18, extend rearwardly beyon the shaft 19 and are connected by an' inte ral tail-bar .23. To this tail-bar [a .brac et 24 attaches,`the same carryihg anut 25. Thisnut 25 is suitably'mounted in the bracket1 upon a horizontal pin 26. To one of the brackets 13,'referred 'to above, an adjusting-screw 27- isattachedby a'pivot con- 'nection 28, and this .ad'usting-s'crew passes through the nut 26. an 'is provided above. with a crank 29. From thiskarra should be understood that'whenv t e crank' 2'9is rotated the angular position of thearml 18 in a `vertical plane ,may be readily ad` jllSiled. 'A t Y' y 'From the head or fork 22 the suction-1head`- y10 is supported. vForthiepurpose:a'hanger 30 is provided, which is pivotally attached at 31v to the fork, as shown. The lower exement it i Loc tremity of -this hangery is formed into a yoke 32,l as indicatedmost clearly in' Fi,1f.'5,"' the driving-pulley 45 over which a belt may pass.. kThe shaft 44 carries rigidly a gear-wheel46 `20 near the tail-bar 23.

.well-known manner.

arms of the said yoke being attached rigidly j below 4tothe lower extremity of the elbow 9. This hanger 30 is formed above with an upwardly-projecting arm 33, which is rigid therewith. Arrangement is made for holding tln's hanger. 30 in any position desired, se as to maintain the suction-head 10 more or less extended with respect to the arin 18. For this purpose controlling cables or cords 34 and 35 are provided, and these are wrapped upon a drum 36, carried on ahorizontalshaft 37, mounted between the arms Near one extremity the shaft 37 is provided with a wheel 38, and a worm 39 cooperates with the same, said worm having a crank 40 for rotating itin a The cords 34 and 35 are wrapped in opposite directions upon the drum 36 and preferably constitute extensions or ends of the same cord. From this arrangement when the drum 36 is rotated one of the cords will be paid out While the other is taken up. In this way the angular position of the hanger 30 upon its pivot-pin 31 may be adjusted as desired..

Arrangement is made for rotating the worm-Wheel 12 in either direction. j For this purpose a main' worm 41 is provided carried rigidly upon a horizontal shaft 42. Near vone edge of the platform 3 the shaft 42 is rotatably mounted in a suitable bracket 43. In the upper part of this bracket 43 a drivingshaft 44 is mounted, the sarne carrying a rigid and a sprocket-wl'ieel 47. Opposite the sprocket-wheel 47 there is a sprocket-wheel 48, which 1s loosely carried upon the portion vof the shaft 42 which passes through the bracket. A chain 49 connects these sprocketwheels, as indicated. Also upon the shaft 42 there is loosely mounted a gear-wheel 50, which meshes with the aforesaid gear-wheel 46. Between the sprocket-wheel 48 and the gear-wheel a sliding collar 51 is arranged upon the shaft 42, andthe opposite sides of thisv collar are formed so that it constitutes a clutch member. T he adjacent faces of the sprocket-wheel 48 .and the gear-wheel 50 are correspondingly formed, so that if the collar 51 is in engagement with either of these parts al clutch will be formed. The collar 51, it -sho uld be understood, is keyed or feathered to the shaft, so that when it rotates it drives the shaft.` From this arrangement it should be apparent that if the shaft 44 is rotated in a given directioi'i and the collar 51 is inclutch with the sprocket-wheel 48 the shaft 42 will then be driven in the same direction as the shaft 44; but if, on the other hand, the collar 51 is in clutch with the gear-wheel 50 the direction of rotation transmitted to the shaft 42 will be opposite to that of the shaft 44. The ,collar 51 is engaged by al shifting yoke 52, which has an upwardly-extended arm attached to a link 53. This .link 53 is attached at its extremity to a lever 54, which is pivotally mounted at 55 on a bracket on the upper side of the platform 3. This lever 54 constitutes a stanchion for supporting a rail 56 of substantially semicircular form disposed about the axis of the opening 4-as a center. At suitable points this rail 56 'is supported upon stanchions 57, which are pivoted to the rail and pivoted to brackets 58 on the platform, as indicated. The stanchions 57 are pivoted so that they are adapted -to move in planes parallel with `the plane in which the lever 54 moves. This arrangement is adopted so as to enable the clutch-yoke 52 to be.

a provision"as this were made the lever 54 would be out of reach of the operator standing upon the platform-in many of the possible positions for the feeder-tube and the arm 18. l

Referring especially to Fig. 4, the construction of the suction-head 10 will now be described together with the manner of attaching it to the elbow 9. This head comprises a casing 61, .which preferably enlarges below and is provided on its .forward face with a circular opening 62. The sidel faces of the casing are preferably flat, as shown. Preferably enthe axis of the opening 62 a horizontal shaft 63 is rotatably mounted in the casing 61', and this shaft carries a fan. 64, the blades 65 whereof are inclined, as indicated, in such a manner that when the fan rotates air will be drawn in through the opening 62 and forced upwardly through the casing 61 and through the feed-tube 6. i The outer edges 'of the blades 65 are provided with serrated fingers 66, which project through the opening 62 near theedges thereof, as indicated. The shaft 63 is preferably extended considerably beyond the 'fan 64, so as to project through the opening 62, and its extremity is provided With a crab 67 having oppositely-projecting arms 68, which are preferably curved'" slightl as shown in Fig. 1. These armspreferalilyproject inwardly at their extremities in the direction of the fan. At the rear of the casing 61 a turbine-engine 69 is mounted, the same being drive-n through a hose 70. i This Aturbine-engine .may be driven either by air or steam. The hose 70 leading thereto is preferably supported upon the under side of the feeder-tube 6, as indicated at 71, its inner end extending to a point near the platform 3, where the supply of operating fluid will be received. w

To the upper extremity of the casingl a ringl 71 is rigidly attached, whih ring is dis- IIO IIS

71 carries rigi posed about the low-er extremity of the elbow 9 and-supportedu on afi-flange 72 -at the lower extremitgr arrangement is made forrotatin'g t is pulley 73 so as torotate the casingl 6 1 into any de-l sired lposition .u on--itsfverticalaxis For thispurpose the ower extremities-'of the `armslof the hanger 30 have bracketsf74 attached,

'which carry guide-pulleys'75. Around these guide-v ulleys pass controlling cables or cords 76an 77, which attach at their outer ex.-

tremities to an ear 78, formed onithelpulley 73', as indicated: most clearly in. ig. 5'.

From the pulleysj 75 the cords 76 and 77 ass upwardly and over guide-pulleys 79, w ich are carried loosely upon the pivot-pin 31,rev ferred to above, which pivot-pin is extended at its extremities for this purpose. At a suitable point on the vframe a transverse shaft 80 is provided," thel lextremities 'whereof proA will ,be taken ject beyond the sides of the frame and carry drums 81 and 82, disposed,lrespectively, on

opposite-sides of the frame. `Upon these drums the cords 77 and7 6 respectively wrap, the same being wound in oppositedirections, as indicated `most clearly in Fig-J2. The shaft 80 carries rigidly a worm-wheel 83, with whichcoperates a worm 84, the sa'ne having a crank for rotating it in a' common manner. From this arrangement it should be evident that'the crank 85affordsvmeans for rotating the suction-head 10 into any position desired, lit being understood that as the shaft 80 rotates one of the cords 7 `6 or' 7 7 up, while the other will be paid out. v f

` The mode of now be describe tinuous'ly in the usual manner. to befed to the threshing-'cylinder will be stacked in the vicinity Aof the threshing-cyl.-

inder and within the radiusof operation lof the feed-tube 6. `By means of the power, which would be transmitted byv a .belt to the pulley 45 the` shaft 42. will be controlled through the clutch-yokeV 52, enabling the frame 15 and the parts carried thereby to be rotated into any position desired. In this way the angulars-position of the feed-tube' in a horizontal plane will be accurately reguply of grain.` -By rotatingthe crank 4Q t elposition of the hanger 30 will be controlla as lated. VBy op'erating'the crank 29the arm18 will be raised or lowered so as to bring the suction-head 10 into 4thevicinity of thesu desired, so as to adjust the suction-headil out'or inwardly with reference Ato the arm. By reason of these three possible .movements the osition of thefsuctionlhead may be very nice y controlledl. f=lnaddition.. 4to 'this the Y cables 76 and 77;.control ed'as they are' lby means of the cranlsj.l 8 5, a ord means for ro-' tating the suctiomhead into any position. de`

of t 1e said elbow. The ring. 1y an annular pulls f '73,v and operation of the'. machine wilt n The meshing-Gymnast 2 will blt-driven @0n- The grain assist in loosening up .the -stackfo 'grain in Aadvance-,of thefopening (32A- and facilitates the feeding'ofthe grain through1 .the.ofening. From.' this arrangement it-:willf eenderstood that the feedtube andfsution-head 10.- may-reach4 all of fthe; grain .s itaeked within its radius of operation..v "Furthermore, in all of. the. possiblegpositions ofthefeedtube the v y rail 56 will be within eas lreach otthaoper-j ator standing uponthe at forml59.. In this v way. the operator will a ways have complete.. 1

control over the rotation ofthe feed-tube upon its vertical axis.

`Having thus described my invention, I. claimas new and desire to secure by Letters prising in combination, apneumatic feeder-l tube, a suction-plied at the extremity thereof l an 'and carrying a i, a motor at said suctionhead for driving said-fan, means for control? lnghe position of said` feeder-tube', and .a hose said tube.l

eadmg toLsaid engine and supported on i 2'. Feeding mechanism for a. thresher, comprising in combination, aplatform.v havlng an opening disposed above theA thresher-cylmder, a "spout disposed oversaid opening, a

feed-tube having' a swivel connection said sp out',a wheel surrounding said-spout and supportedon said platform, a'frame su ported on said wheelfan arm carried by saidyrdjgg; ame and supporting the outer extremity of v said tube, means for ad`usting "sa1d arm, Y'

means for rotating said w veel, and a fan at the outer extremity of ls aid feed-tube.

3. 'Feeding mechanism for a thresher, comprising in combination, a feed-tube adapted' to deliver to the thresher-cylinder, means for rotating said feed-tube upon a vertical axis, an operators platform rotatable upon' said axis with saidtube, mechanism for ycontrolling said tubea rail near said platform,'and a connection from said rail to said mechanism for o erating'the same; 1 4. eedingmechanism forzathresher comrising, in' combination, a fixed platform, a

eed-tube supported on said platform, means for rotating said feed-tube upona vertical 4`axis, an operat'ors platform rotatingwith said tube, a rail having vivoted stancfhions -su ported onsaid fixed p atform, and mechanism for controlling said tubemounted on ',saidffixed platform and actuated. by lsaid rail.`

5. Feeding mechanism for a thresher comprisin in' combinatiom a feed-tube', 'a casing carri .therebyhaving an openingm thewal thereof, and a fan rotatably mounted Within said casing and having Vlingers projecting,`

througifsaidopening and adapted to engage the supply of grain.

carried at the extremity thereof and having an Opening in its Wall, a fan mounted Within said casing and adapted to produce a suction' through said opening, and members projecting from'said fan and adapted to engage the grainfsupply. l v

7 Feeding mechanism for a thresher, comprising Vin combination, a feed-tube, a delivery-spout, a flexible connection between said tube 'and said delivery-spout, a suction-heatl at the outer extremity of said tube, a flexible connection between said suction-head and said tube, a frame, means for rotatably suporting saidframe, an arm carried by ysaid ame, means-for adjusting said frame, .a hanger pivotally attached to the outer eX- tremity ol said arm andsu' porting said suction-head, cables leading trom said hanger and affording m'eansfor adjusting the position thereof, a swivel connection between lsaid suction-head and said tube, means for rotating .said suction-head., and means for generating an air-current in said tube.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence lof the subscribing Witnesses. j GEORGE C. WILES.

.Witnessesz n v I WILLrAM B. FORKER,

ALBERT H. BRIGGS, J. U. BROWN.- 

